dots troubleshooting: common problems and fixes

Almost every dots problem falls into three buckets: access has not arrived yet because the rollout is gradual, the action was attempted on a device that does not support it, or you expected an action to delete data that it does not delete. This page covers all three.

I cannot see my dot

The most frequent query, and almost always the same answer: the rollout is gradual and access may take several days. Having the right plan does not mean it is already active on your account.

Before assuming a problem, check:

1. Your plan. dots is on Pro, Business Premium, and in beta for Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare.
2. Your market. The Pro plan excludes the EEA, Switzerland and the UK. Business Premium has no such exclusion.
3. The device. Setup happens in the ChatGPT desktop app or on desktop web.
4. If you are on Enterprise, Edu or Healthcare: the beta ships off by default. An admin has to enable it.

If all of that checks out, the answer is to wait. There is no waitlist for the general rollout and no way to speed it up.

I cannot create the dot

Situation	Why
You are in the mobile app	Setup is not available on mobile
You are on mobile web	Not supported for dots
You are on desktop but see no option	The rollout has not reached your account, or your plan/market does not qualify

You need the ChatGPT desktop app — there is a Windows version — or the web on a computer. Once the dot exists, you can talk to it from mobile.

Problems with actions and permissions

My dot will not do something it should. Check your custom rules: it may be landing on “ask before taking action” or “hand off to you”. Also check plugin permissions in ChatGPT’s Plugins tab.

Auto-review blocked an action. That is the expected behaviour. Auto-review evaluates the action against your instructions, your rules and safety requirements. Your approval cannot override core safety requirements.

I connected my computer and it still cannot reach files. Local computer access starts turned off. You have to connect the machine from the desktop app and confirm “Allow access”.

My dot does not call me. At launch it cannot initiate calls.

My dot cannot have its own email. Correct: at launch you cannot give it a standalone address. It can use your connected personal account, and it can have its own identity in Slack.

Pause, reset and stop

Pause — dot profile, three-dot menu, Pause. Resume from “Paused”.

Stop work in progress — you can give new instructions, change direction, or ask it to stop outright.

Reset — deletes the whole dot. Worth knowing exactly what it takes with it:

What	Deleted by Reset?
The dot and its context	Yes
Its saved memories	Yes
Its scheduled tasks	Yes
Files and Codex threads it created	No
ChatGPT conversations it created	No
Memories from your other ChatGPT conversations	No

The problem that surprises people most: memories you cannot delete

This is the least intuitive limitation of the product, and worth knowing before you use it.

You cannot view, delete or modify individual dot memories. OpenAI states this explicitly. The only thing that deletes the dot’s context is deleting the dot.

And there is one more detail: memory is shared with ChatGPT in both directions. The dot receives memories and recent context from ChatGPT, and its conversations can contribute to ChatGPT memory. Turning memory off in ChatGPT stops the exchange, but does not delete what the dot already received.

Disconnecting an app does not delete what it already read

Another counterintuitive behaviour: disconnecting a plugin stops new access, but does not remove information the dot already built into its context. For that you have to delete the dot.

Text messaging

If texting is available on your account — a limited beta, US Pro users only — reply STOP to stop outgoing messages. To delete conversations and saved memories, use Reset.

When something went wrong

If your dot did something you did not want:

1. Ask it to fix it. It may be able to reverse unintended edits to a document or recall an email.
2. Not everything is reversible. Some actions cannot be undone, depending on the action and the app.
3. Check the activity view to understand what happened and in what order.
4. Adjust the rules before it happens again.
5. To report it, OpenAI’s help center is the right channel.